


The Great Canon Divide: Yu-Gi-Oh! and Source Material

by Ariasune



Series: Nonfiction [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Meta, Meta Essay, Nonfiction, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-11-23 14:07:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18152852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ariasune/pseuds/Ariasune
Summary: A brief introduction into the fragmented history of Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Monster's canon. Primarily written as a primer to discussing discrepancies, disagreements and differences in interpretation.





	The Great Canon Divide: Yu-Gi-Oh! and Source Material

As you can see from the diagram above this is going to be a poorly executed geographical metaphor.

The original source material of  **YGO** is - of course the  ~~magma~~  manga, written by  **Kazuki Takahashi**. Initially,  **Kazuki Takahashi** did not plan to focus on the card game,  **Duel Monsters** in his work. However,  **Duel Monsters** is a cash-volcano, just sort of spewing movie exclusive cards and revenue out. This decision radically altered the direction the manga was taken in.

In the  **sub** , this divide took place between two separate anime series, known to fandom as s0 produced by  **Toei Animation** and also s1-5 produced by  **Studio Gallop** and  **Nihon Ad Systems**. Whereas  **s0** followed the early manga,  **s1-5** were more card-focused to reflect the later work.

Further dividing the  **sub** and  **manga** are the filler arcs, notably  **DOMA**. Whilst  **Virtual World** involved concepts brought up in  **Death-T**  from the  **manga** , the anime-exclusive  **DOMA**  arc was written to give  **Takahashi**  further time to work on the  **Millennium World**  Arc ( **s5** ). In the end, the canon non-compliant  **DOMA** was aired, and  **Takahashi** removed most of his intended ideas for  **MW** , leaving a number of subplots unaddressed or explored.

Nevertheless, the two slightly wonky canons of  **sub** and  **manga** remain a collective whole to their original audience.

However, the American Licensing Company,  **4kids Entertainment** (now, 4Licensing Corporation, because that doesn’t sound evil) then purchased the dubbing rights to  **s1-5** but not  **s0**. Over-all, this decision was financial, but resulted in an natural gulf between the  **canon**. Added to this, dubbing of the time also included a large amount of  **localization** , as well as  **censorship**  (there’s a subduction joke in here somewhere) in order to soften the material for a western - and/or younger - audience.

 **YGO** had a small problem then; the original source material is violent. This resulted in some sweeping changes to the already divided material. Examples of the changes  **4kids** felt it needed to make include seemingly random name localization (Yugi remains unaltered, Anzu is now Téa), odd voicing choices, and the creation of  **card game hell**. Entire character arcs were  _invented_ and others stripped out.

The result of all this is that, whilst  **every** fandom encounters rifts in its canon, whether due to continuity snarls, dubbing or other factors,  **YGO** is a complete mess. There are radical differences between and within,  **manga** , **sub** ,and  **dub** that are all technically canon, and as a fandom we are quite divided.

Further – the popularity of  **Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series** ,which is itself a parody of the dubbed material, but calls upon  **sub** and  **manga** when required. As an elaborate transformative piece  **YGOTAS** commands a wide audience, and a wider canon of its own, separate from the original materials. However, are many places in the western fandom where  **YGOTAS** canon overtakes  **dub** ,and even  **sub** or  **manga** canon, convoluting what is understood as canon further.

In order to begin any serious discussion of  **YGO**  as a series, not only is an understanding of this history pretty much required, but if you don’t address it at the onset, you’re just going to end up with cross-canon complaints.


End file.
